There are plenty of big names teeing it up at Walton Heath looking to win the 2023 AIG Women’s Open, but there are also some golfing stars who are missing out this year.
Defending champion Ashleigh Buhai will return looking to retain her crown, along with other recent winners Anna Nordqvist, Hinako Shibuno and Georgia Hall and all of the world’s top 10.
Which big names won’t be there, though?
Inbee Park
Inbee Park misses the tournament after giving birth in April
(Image credit: Getty Images)
One huge name missing from the field is LPGA Tour Hall of Famer Inbee Park, with the seven-time Major champion giving birth to her first child in April.
The 2015 Women’s Open champion, who has 21 tournament wins on the LPGA Tour, last played in the 2022 AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield, where she finished T22, but will miss this year’s event as she focuses on her baby daughter.
Amy Olson
Amy Olson isn’t in the field as she is due to give birth in the coming weeks
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American Amy Olson teed it up in the US Women’s Open while seven months pregnant, but will not push it to even further extremes so will miss Walton Heath as she closes in her due date.
Olson said she was determined to “waddle down the fairways” of Pebble Beach and did just that – unsurprisingly missing the cut but still getting through 36 holes on the iconic links before putting her clubs away until after her baby is born.
Jessica Korda
Jessica Korda is absent with a back injury
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Jessica Korda remains “out indefinitely” due to the back injury that forced her out of action back in May.
The six-time LPGA winner was fifth in the AIG Women’s Open in 2014 but will miss the chance to try and go even better at Walton Heath with a return date still unknown.
Michelle Wie West
Michelle Wie West has no plans to play again professionally
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Michelle Wie West has not played in the AIG Women’s Open for five years and she’ll apparently now never return after retiring following the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, where she was seemingly very happy to put her clubs away, for a while at least.
The 2014 US Open winner had finishes of T3 in the tournament in both…
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